Life of Jiji

[49]

Life Of Jiji

All Rights Reserved

©2022 Tena Ifiemi

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bites the dust - adekunle gold & simi

glimpse of us - joji

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By evening I was weak as hell. I couldn't come out for evening sports but I knew I'd have to man up before dinner and prep.

"You know this is because you didn't each lunch right?" Ayo complained. "Khadijah, why did you allow her to not eat?"

Khadijah just mumbled something that I'm sure no one heard.

When Ayo would not stop finding more and more things to blame for my state, I groaned, "Are you not going for sports? I know I did not eat lunch. It's in the past now, let it be."

She frowned and marched off.

"Khadi, please put off the AC. I'm going to freeze to death."

She mumbles again as she moves to the switch but this time I hear her. She says, "You're obviously sick cause this weather is the definition of global warming."

By dinner time I wasn't much better. I still had a fever but the headache had gone down a tad. I still didn't have much of an appetite but I made sure to eat a worthy amount of the food so that I don't look dead. Khadijah's words not mine. Besides, I've been having visions where I faint head first into Damain's birthday cake so I'd like to have enough nutrients in me to counter that.

While I was still thinking of what to wear, Reya burst into my room. "Why are you getting pretty for prep?" She asks wrinkling her eyebrows and if I'm not mistaken her voice sounded kinda...off? "It's just reading isn't it? You could just wear pajamas and no one will care." She falls on my bed, "Being attractive is a scam. They still wouldn't like you."

"Ovieya are you drunk?" Khadi asks and my sister finally stops talking and the whole room goes quiet as well.

My class girls never know how to act around my sister so to say this is awkward is to be putting it lightly.

Then suddenly she bursts out laughing. She laughs so hard that she rolls to her side and falls off my bed and I most can't look. Then she stands up and looks at all of us before bringing her index finger to her lips.

"Shhhhh." She tells us, long and loud. "You can't tell anyone."

And then she skips out of my room.

Everybody looks at each other mirroring the same confused expressions. Khadijah suddenly looked alarmed,

"I'm just gonna... Well, that looked kinda bad so I'm just gonna check..."

And she ran off.

I turned back to my mirror and examine the edges I just laid. How did Reya even get Alcohol into the hostel? Is she old enough to be drinking? Should I be worried? I sigh and massage the sides of my head, I can't add a pounding headache to everything I have to deal with tonight. My skin is already hot enough.

Just as planned 30 minutes before the close of prep, one of Damian's friends went round the classes telling all members of blue house and green house who are in Year 11 to move to the cafeteria.

We decided that our entire class was too much to invite and not everyone would want to be there anyway. Anyone else who we thought was worth inviting and was in neither of the two houses, like some of Damian and I's friends, we invited separately.